Locked In The Press
Locked In The Press is a British drama created and written by Tony John Williams. Set in Brentwood in Essex, it revolves around investigative journalist Carl McQuarrie, who goes around town and encounters several incidents. He works for a newspaper company called Brentwood Telegraph and has recently separated from his wife Roberta. He preys on the weak and vulnerable and fabricates the truth when writing about their lives. He has witnessed many different types of crimes, including vandalism, sex trafficking, robbery, murder, rape and racism. Many other characters include McQuarrie's colleagues, especially Jasmine Cheng, who is secretly in love with him, and Craig Gladwell, who goes out of his way to irritate him, and their manager Malcolm Wicks. Plot Carl McQuarrie was once a high-flying journalist, who won over the public over when he wrote stories. However, after discovering his wife Roberta had an affair and later ran off with someone else, his work began to spiral downhill, as did his life. He developed a drinking problem and always turned up late for work. The only person that cared enough to help him back on his feet was his colleague Jasmine Cheng, who he suspects of having a crush on him. Upon arriving late to work one day, he is almost given the sack by his manager Malcolm Wicks, who is persuaded to give him a second chance, after McQuarrie begs him. Later that day, McQuarrie witnessed someone smashing a pizza shop's window before getting arrested. He follows the offender to the police station, where he tries to question him. However, the offender never responded and when an officer used his name, McQaurrie learnt he was Ryan Reynolds. He delves into Reynolds's life and discovers that most of his relatives have disowned him, his girlfriend is on the verge of leaving him and his friends have all ditched him and his colleagues hate him. The only two that believe he can do no wrong are his deluded parents. He later attends Reynolds' trial, where he watches him being sentenced to six months for vandalism. He writes and publishes the events in on the Brentwood Telegraph website. He next meets a young woman named Sophie Macdonald, after watching her argue with the airport staff and being evicted from the building by the security. He aids in helping her and discovers that she was brought to the country along with several other girls who were employed by Bill Callahan. He helps her escape from Streetwalker Brothel and reunites her with her parents. The next person he meets is Jermaine Carter, who was forced to murder a vicar. He learns his story and comes to the conclusion that his circumstances are similar to Reynolds. His parents are on the edge of disowning him, as all his other relatives have done, his girlfriend's father wants their relationship over and his colleagues dislike him, due to him trying to cause fights with them. He is eventually sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. McQuarrie then encounters a woman named Amy Khan, who was publicly fired from her job by her manager. He discovers that she has been the victim of sexual and verbal abuse and encourages her to report her manager to the police. A protest to get her manager sacked is later held outside her former work, and she gives evidence at his trial. McQuarrie then hears about a robbery at a hardware store and finds one of the criminals called Cody Smith. Without realising, Smith is the illegitimate son of Malcolm Wicks. His colleagues, including Cheng, try to persuade him not to go through with publishing the story, and even though his manager has rejected the idea, he publishes it and is later fired by Wicks, who calls him whilst at home. He is then visited by Jasmine Cheng, who confesses her love for him, before they kiss and become a couple. Characters Main characters * Carl McQuarrie - McQuarrie is an investigative journalist, determined to get anyone to reveal their life stories. He has recently separated from his wife Roberta, who had an affair and ran off to be with another man. He was once a high-flying journalist, who won over the public with his articles. However, when he discovered his wife was unfaithful, his work began to spiral downhill, along with his life. He now must face life as a solitary man, who only trust one person - Jasmine Cheng, who is intent on making him the man he once was. He suspects her of having a crush on him, but doesn't want to ruin their friendship. He is generally a caring and sympathetic person, but does have a nasty streak, especially when he is refused what he wants. When someone refuses to tell him their histories, he bribes them until they approve to talk to him. * Jasmine Cheng - Jasmine is McQuarrie's colleague, who works alongside him in the newsroom at Stokefield Crescent House. She sometimes assists him in questioning people. She is secretly in love with him, but does not want to spoil their friendship by confessing her feelings. She accepts to anything he requests, even when he asks to let someone stay with her. She dislikes his wife Roberta, who she believes was once very lucky when she was married to him. She also has close friendships with other colleagues, including Florence Webb and Marty Webb, who go to her for advice. Her one wish in life is to be with someone who'll love her unconditionally. * Craig Gladwell - Craig is McQuarrie's and Jasmine's colleague who works alongside them in the newsroom. However, he works as an editor. He often finds new ways to irritate McQuarrie, who he dislikes intensely. He is close friends with Marty Webb and his wife Florence, who he is secretly in love with and humorously flirts with her. He is unpopular and many do not trust him. His one wish in life is to one day meet a woman as kind as Florence. * Florence Webb - Florence is another colleague, who works alongside her husband Marty and Craig. She works as a journalist, but does not interact with McQuarrie. Although she often goes to Jasmine for advice. She knows that Craig is in love with her, but she does not return these feelings. She hates it when Craig flirts with her, but does not want to cause a scene. Her one desire in life is to someday owning her own company and having children with Marty. * Marty Webb - Marty is the husband of Florence and close friend of Craig's. He suspects Craig of having feelings for his wife, and never leaves the two alone. He has only recently joined the company, after leaving his previous job as a broadcast journalist for ITV, after getting into a debate with one of the managers. He likes many of his co-workers, but does not really have a relationship with McQuarrie. He often asks Jasmine for advice. He someday wants to become a broadcaster and have children with Florence. * Malcolm Wicks - Malcolm is the chief executive, who once had a one-night-stand with Michelle Smith, which resulted in the birth of their son Cody, who Malcolm never watched grow up and was not allowed to have any contact with. He is described as impressionable and soft. He often gives his employees second or third chances, including McQuarrie, who he believes could become the man he once was. Minor characters * Ryan Reynolds - Ryan works as a drivers mate, he is the son of criminal lawyer Stanley Reynolds and his wife Dana. He once had two girlfriends at the same time. He and Aahna Singh were caught kissing by her father Vivaan, who threatened Ryan to keep away from his daughter, before trying to stab him. He even tried to get his parents to kick him out as punishment. He finally got what he wanted and broke up Ryan and Aahna. Ryan later got revenge by vandalising a mosque and Vivaan's pizza shop, both of which he smashed the window of and got arrested. He was seen by Carl McQaurrie, who followed him to the police station and tried to get him to reveal his reasons for doing so. However, Ryan remained quiet, but later agreed to talk to him. McQaurrie discovered that many of Ryan's relatives have disowned him, his girlfriend Zoe Carpenter was planning on leaving him, his friends have all ditched him and his colleagues hate him. The only two that believe he does no wrong, are his deluded parents. He is later sentenced to six months imprisonment. McQuarrie claims in his newspaper article, that Ryan suffers from paranoia and that he had no good reason for committing criminal damage. * Sophie Macdonald - Sophie is a sex trafficking victim, who was brought to the country and believed that she would be dancing at nightclubs. However, she was trapped in the clutches of Bill Callahan, who kept her at Streetwalker Brothel, which he owns. She later manages to escape and flees to Christopher Marlowe's Airport, where she is seen arguing with the customer service by Carl McQaurrie, who convinces her that he could help, in return for her life story. She informs him that she needs to get back to her home in America, but is kept in the country by Callahan. She is helped by McQuarrie, who reunites her with her parents Louis and Sally and boyfriend Jamie. When McQuarrie writes and publishes the events, he claims she suffers from schizophrenia and has escaped from a psychiatric hospital. * Jermaine Carter - Jermaine is a member of Danny Browne's gang, who forced him to murder Reverend Nickson. Upon Carl McQuarrie discovering this, he sought out Carter, and came face to face with him one night on a footbridge. Carter claims that if he was unwilling to go through with the crime, he would end up dead. McQuarrie learns that Carter's circumstances are much like Ryan Reynolds's. His relatives have turned their backs on him, he is hated by the father of his girlfriend Erin Harris, who detests their relationship and he is disliked by his colleagues, who he tries to start fights with. His parents Jack and Kirsty expressed their concerns for him, when talking to McQuarrie. He is later sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment for the crime. McQuarrie later publishes the events online, where he claims that the vicar was murdered during a funeral, when in reality he was in the church only with Carter and his gang. His mother disagrees with what McQuarrie has written and threatens to report him to GDPR, unless the article was removed. McQuarrie had no choice but to remove the story. * Amy Khan - Amy is a former employee of D&D Electrical Store, where she was abused both verbally and physically by her racist manager, who would often use racist remarks. She was publicly fired by her manager, which was seen by Carl McQuarrie, who chose to help her, in return for her story. McQuarrie encouraged her to report her manager to the police, before a protest was held to get the manager the sack. She later gave a statement at her manager's trial. McQuarrie claims that Khan chose to leave, but wanted to first cause trouble for the company. * Cody Smith - Cody is the illegitimate son of Malcolm Wicks, which is unknown to Carl McQuarrie. Cody and his friends decided to burgle a hardware store, which became talk of the town and was heard by McQuarrie, who found him and interrogated him about the crime. However, despite many of his colleagues warning him not to go through with it and his manager refusing to give him permission, McQuarrie chose to publish the story and got the sack. Episodes Series 1